[39.10] University of Hawaii KBO Recovery Program and Physical Properties of KBO 2000 OK67

M. Kadooka, K. J. Meech, J. Pittichova (IfA, UH)

The recent discoveries of small bodies in the outer solar
system in the vicinity of the Kuiper Belt are
revolutionizing our concepts about the formation of our
solar system and providing critical dynamical and
compositional clues to the earliest epochs. However, with
the rapidly accelerating rate of discovery, we are unable to
keep up with tracking the orbits of these important denizens
to recover the dynamical information. We have begun an
innovative test program to assess the potential of a small
(2-m class) educational telescope to engage in an efficient
Kuiper Belt recovery program. The Faulkes Telescope on
Haleakala, Maui, is nearing completion and should be
operational for outreach during the fall 2003. We will
report on recovery observations obtained over the course of
38 nights using the University of Hawaii 2.2m telescope
during 13 observing runs. The UH 2.2m telescope is one of
the most efficient telescopes in the world for KBO recovery.

We will report on physical observations of one of our
recovered objects, 2000 OK67, to look at its rotational
light curve. Time resolved photometry suggests a light curve
rotation period >12 hr. The light curve range delta
m>0.3mag suggest an axial ratio >1.3 if caused by shape.
We will report on colors of the object and a deep search for
possible dust production.

This work was supported by a grant from NASA NAG5-12236 and
by a grant from the National Science Foundation,
ESI-9731083.